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In a Pinch Tomato Soup (and a BONUS cheese pie!)

September 18, 2017

All my meal planning last week came in handy especially come 3pm when Henrik starts in on witching hour. The only problem….I only made enough meals to get us to Thursday. I had intended on making chicken fajitas that day with a grocery store rotisserie chicken, but then in the morning I realized there wouldn’t actually be any time to get to the grocery store and buy a chicken before school pickups. Henrik had started napping until almost the last second of us having to leave the house so my plan was no more.

I quickly looked through my pantry and fridge and found a bottle of strained tomatoes and a bunch of veggies from Henrik’s baby food, a frozen sheet of puff pastry and a bunch of feta, so I decided to go with it.

I made a quick tomato soup and a cheese pie during Henrik’s first nap. The soup took about 10min to prep, 10min for stage 1 and 30min to simmer on the stove. The pie took about the same time to prep and 20min to bake. It sort of exploded and looked brutal though so I had to redeem myself the next day by making another one with some lessons learned from day one. AKA DO NOT OVER FILL THE ROLL!!!

Ok so here’s how to make the soup, and bonus cheese pie, slash log, slash pastry roll…whatever you want to call it.

SOUP

3 large carrots chopped

3 celery stalks chopped

1 large yellow onion chopped

1 tbsp ground thyme

1 tbsp sweet paprika

1 crushed garlic clove

1 bottle strained tomatoes (750mL)

1 L vegetable stock

2 tbsp butter

salt and pepper to taste

parmesan for serving!

In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium/high heat then sauté the veggies with the dried thyme and paprika until soft, about 8-10minutes. Add the garlic and sauté one more minute. Scoop all the veggies and melted butter into a blender or food processor, add half the vegetable stock and blend until smooth. Put back into the pot, pour in the strained tomatoes and the rest of the vegetable stalk (tip: I pour the tomatoes into the pot first then pour some of the stock into the bottle and shake it “clean” before pouring back out into the pot…same with the blender…I’m a stickler for using every little thing). Mix well with a wooden spoon, add salt and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to a boil then lower the heat to very low, cover and let simmer stirring occasionally for about 30minutes.

Pie!

While the soup is cooking you can make a cheese pie!!! You’ll need:

1 sheet of puff pastry dough, I used Tenderflake in this case because I had it left over from my cheesecakes

1 container of ricotta cheese (full fat) strained in a cheese cloth of most of the water

2 cups crumbled feta (I only use feta that’s actually made in Greece, just check the product label…Costco has a good one)

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tbsp water to use as an egg wash

Preheat oven to 375. On a floured work surface, roll out the dough just slightly…don’t make it too thin. In a bowl mix the feta, ricotta and 1 egg well. Pour the mixture on 1/3 of the dough leaving about a 1 inch border around. Then starting with the short side, roll the dough once, fold over the two sides and press down to close the dough together, then continue rolling into a log. Place it on a parchment lined baking sheet, with the fold down. Brush the top with egg wash and bake for 20minutes, checking for doneness around 15minutes. You want the roll to be golden brown on top and bottom (lift a little with a spatula).

EXPLOSION ALERT! Your roll may actually explode. Do not panic! It will taste delicious anyways but look hideous. Scoop it all into a giant bowl and call it a cheese pastry trifle. You’re welcome.